AGM-183A ARRW on a B-52, June 2019 (190612-F-HP195-0014) (cropped)

Hypersonic weapons are weapons travelling at

hypersonic speed In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since ind ...

– at between 5 and 25 times the

speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or one kilometre in or one mile in . It depends strongly on temperature as w ...

, about . Below such speeds, weapons would be characterized as subsonic or

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

, while above such speeds, the molecules of the atmosphere disassociate into a plasma which makes control and communication difficult.

Directed-energy weapon A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include w ...

s such as lasers may operate at higher speeds but are considered a different class of weaponry. There are multiple types of hypersonic weapon: #

hypersonic glide vehicle Hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is a type of warhead for ballistic missile that can maneuver and glide at hypersonic speed. It is used on ballistic missiles to significantly change their trajectories. Conventional ballistic missiles follow a predic ...

: missiles which maneuver and

glide Glide may refer to: * Gliding flight, to fly without thrust Computing *Glide API, a 3D graphics interface *Glide OS, a web desktop *Glide (software), an instant video messenger *Glide, a molecular docking software by Schrödinger (company), Schr� ...

through the atmosphere at high speeds after an initial

ballistic Ballistics may refer to: Science * Ballistics, the science that deals with the motion, behavior, and effects of projectiles ** Forensic ballistics, the science of analyzing firearm usage in crimes ** Internal ballistics, the study of the proc ...

launch phase # hypersonic cruise missiles:

cruise missiles A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...

which use air-breathing engines such as

scramjet A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow. As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to compress the incoming air forcefully ...

s to reach high speeds # hypersonic aircraft using air-breathing engines such as

s to reach high speeds # guns which fire guided projectiles. These may be developments of traditional artillery or novel technologies such as

railgun A railgun or rail gun is a linear motor device, typically designed as a weapon, that uses electromagnetic force to launch high velocity projectiles. The projectile normally does not contain explosives, instead relying on the projectile's high ...

s. # ballistic missiles traveling at high speeds during its atmospheric reentry Currently China, India, Iran, Russia and US have developed fully functional hypersonic weapons in the form of glide vehicles, ballistic missiles, rail guns and air breathing cruise missiles having their own respective independent programs and have demonstrated sustained hypersonic combustions.

List of hypersonic weapons

''See also Hypersonic flight#Hypersonic weapons, National Defense Space Architecture'' Plans, programs and projects for such weaponry include: *

Silbervogel Silbervogel (German for "silver bird") was a design for a liquid-propellant rocket-powered sub-orbital bomber produced by Eugen Sänger and Irene Bredt in the late 1930s for The Third Reich/Nazi Germany. It is also known as the RaBo ( – "rocke ...

, the first design, made in the 1930s. * 3M22 Zircon *

AGM-183 ARRW The AGM-183 ARRW ("Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon") is a hypersonic air-to-ground missile planned for use by the United States Air Force. Developed by Lockheed Martin, the boost-glide vehicle is propelled to a maximum speed of more than Mac ...

– an Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon or "Arrow" * Avangard *

Boeing X-51 Waverider The Boeing X-51 Waverider is an unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft for hypersonic flight at and an altitude of . The aircraft was designated X-51 in 2005. It completed its first powered hypersonic flight on 26 May 2010. After t ...

BrahMos-II BrahMos-II or BrahMos-2 or BrahMos Mach II (note:Not to be confused with the BrahMos block II) is a hypersonic cruise missile currently under joint development by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation and Russia's NPO Mashinostroye ...

Cannon-Caliber Electromagnetic Gun launcher The Cannon-Caliber Electromagnetic Gun (CCEMG) launcher is a rapid-fire railgun launcher developed by the U.S. military in the early 1990s to study and test the viability of electromagnetic weapons. Description The CCEMG launcher (version III) wa ...

DARPA Falcon Project The DARPA Falcon Project (Force Application and Launch from Continental United States) is a two-part joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) and is part of Prompt Global ...

(''Hypersonic Weapon System'' (HWS)) *

DF-ZF The DF-ZF is a Chinese hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), previously denoted by the Pentagon as WU-14 and currently officially operational on October 1st, 2019, in the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The DF-ZF is designed to be m ...

mounted on the

DF-17 The Dongfeng-17 (), is a Chinese solid-fuelled road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile that mounts the DF-ZF Hypersonic Glide Vehicle. The DF-17 along with the DF-ZF, was officially unveiled at the National Day military parade on 1 October ...

HGV-202F The HGV-202F is an Indian hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) being designed, developed, and manufactured by an Indian Defence and Space company HTNP Industries. Production HGV-202F a hypersonic Boost-glide vehicle is being designed, developed, and ...

Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) is a scramjet-powered hypersonic air-launched cruise missile project, the successor of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) and the SCIFiRE hypersonic programs. Technology developed for ...

Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) is an experimental hypersonic glide vehicle developed as part of the DARPA Falcon Project designed to fly in the Mach number, Mach 20 range. It is a test bed for technologies to provide the United States wit ...

Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight. It is being developed as a carrier vehicle for hypersonic and long-range cruise missiles, and will have multiple civilian applications including the launching ...

Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile is a Japanese hypersonic glide vehicle being intended to be used in defending of remote islands. Design and capabilities The HVGP is designed as a standoff missile capable of attacking enemy forces invading remote islands in Japan from outside ...

Kh-15 The Raduga Kh-15 or RKV-15 (russian: Х-15; NATO: AS-16 "Kickback"; GRAU:) is a Russian hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-ground missile carried by the Tupolev Tu-22M and other bombers. Originally developed as a standoff nuclear air-to-ground ...

Kh-47M2 Kinzhal The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (in Russian: Х-47М2 Кинжал, "Dagger", NATO reporting name Killjoy) is a Russian nuclear-capable hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-surface missile. It has a claimed range of more than , Mach 12 speed (2.5 mi/s), and ...

Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) is a medium-range surface-to-surface boost-glide hypersonic missile planned for use by the United States Army. The United States Navy intends to procure a ship/submarine-launched variant of the missile as ...

OpFires Operational Fires (abbreviated as OpFires) is a hypersonic ground-launched system developed by DARPA for the United States Armed Forces. The system deploys a boost glide vehicle. The prime contractor for the program is Lockheed Martin. The sys ...

Prompt Global Strike Prompt Global Strike (PGS) is a United States military effort to develop a system that can deliver a precision-guided conventional weapon airstrike anywhere in the world within one hour, in a similar manner to a nuclear ICBM. Such a weapon wou ...

(''Advanced Hypersonic Weapon'') * SCIFiRE *

Shaurya (missile) Shaurya (IAST: shāurya, meaning 'Bravery') is a canister-launched hypersonic surface-to-surface tactical missile developed by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for use by the Indian Armed Forces. It has a range of ...

YJ-21 The YJ-21 () is a Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile. The missile system is reportedly capable of engaging land targets and surface warships with a hypersonic, maneuverable, conventional warhead. The missile is possibly based on an export-orient ...

References

Hypersonic aircraft Projectile weapons Weapons {{military-stub